


We've All Got Battle Scars

by PorcelainPrimadonna



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, Demigods, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-03-16 11:18:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3486266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcelainPrimadonna/pseuds/PorcelainPrimadonna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there was anything Madoka wasn't expecting to happen on a school trip to the a museum, it was for one of her best friends to suddenly burst into flames.</p><p>And if she had to pick a close second, it would be when said best friend was replaced by a flaming-haired woman with fur and a peg-leg.</p><p>Needless to say, this was not on her trip itinerary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Signum Malum

**Author's Note:**

> PJO au??
> 
> I've been writing this for ages but never really finished. Hoping that now that it's done and I post it up it'll give me the determination to finish it.
> 
> (Also this is un-beta'd so please forgive any mistakes and I'll update it soon).

If there was anything Madoka wasn't expecting to happen on a school trip to the museum, it was for one of her best friends to suddenly burst into flames.

And if she had to pick a close second, it would be when said best friend was replaced by a flaming-haired woman with fur and a peg-leg.

Needless to say, this was not on her trip itinerary.

Hitomi Shizuki had been perfect. Perfect grades, perfect hair, perfect everything. When she wasn't practising piano, she was learning how to dance or prepare tea or to speak a fifth language. Overall she was quite literally Miss Perfect. And now she had Madoka pinned against a wall by her neck, a growl building in the back of her throat.

“Hitomi, what the hell are you doing?” Sayaka was yelling in the background, but Madoka couldn't quite focus. In fact, she couldn't quite focus on anything right now as Hitomi's hand tightened around her neck.

“You will join me, demigod, or you will die. If you are not of use to us alive then we will make use of you dead.”

Madoka tried to choke out some kind of reply but the hand around her wind pipe was making it very difficult. From the corner of her eye she could see her classmates scattering, but her vision was quickly fading. Feebly, she tried to push Hitomi away but her arms were growing weak. Slowly, her arms fell and she finally slipped into unconsciousness.

**+**

Moments later, for Madoka at least, she was awake again, moving with her feet dragging along the floor. The first thing she realised was someone was holding her, pulling her body along. The second thing she noticed when her eyes eased open was the fire. There was so much fire.

“S-Sayaka?” she tried to say, but her throat was sore and all she could do was cough violently.

“Madoka!” exclaimed her friend, who tightened her grip around the smaller girl. “God, I thought you were dead. You just blacked out and I had to hit Hitomi over the head like three times before she let go of you,” she continued, taking deep breaths. How long had she been carrying her? At least now Madoka was trying to walk along with her, even if she was still tripping over her feet.

“She kept going on about joining her masters or something but I kept hitting her and she fell back for a while and that's when I grabbed you and ran. The teacher and the other kids started running about so she couldn't get to me very quick but I don't think they really knew what was going on.”

“Sayaka...”

“I think they just think it was a fire or something. Some of them walked straight past her like she wasn't half-donkey or something.”

“Sayaka!”

“What is it?”

“I need to rest for a second. So do you...”

“Yeah, okay. Um, behind there,” she said, but Madoka wasn't paying enough attention. Her eyesight was still a little blurry and she was having trouble breathing. Touching her neck felt sore and she knew there were going to be marks there for a long time.

The pair ducked behind a building, slumping to the ground as they caught their breath. Madoka's vision blurred and for a second she thought she was going to black out again. Her ears were ringing and for a while she didn't even register who was shaking her arm.

“Madoka, look up, there's... I don't even know but look!” Sayaka started, grabbing Madoka's attention. Madoka looked up at the sky, blinded by the sun until a cloud drifted across and covered her in shadow. Except on close inspection she noticed the cloud was actually a flock of birds, slowly spiralling down. And then when they got closer Madoka realised that they weren't even birds at all.

“Flying horses,” Madoka breathed, wide-eyed and trembling. Today was just too unreal for her to compute.

“Madoka, look out,” Sayaka yelled, and a second later she was tackled to the ground as the pegasi nose-dived in front of the pair before being violently pulled up. Behind the pegasi was a golden chariot and as it flew past Madoka could hear yelling from inside.

“Carefully, Nagisa!”

“I'm trying!”

“You know if you hadn't let the ten-year-old drive-”

“Don't listen to Kimiko, just try to land safely!”

“I'm trying!”

It seemed to Madoka, though, that Nagisa wasn't trying hard enough, and soon with a scream the driver of the chariot had the reins ripped from her hands. The pegasi flew upwards, each one in a different direction, dragging the others along with them. As their traces broke, the chariot plummeted, tipping out its contents and three young girls into the air.

“Stay here, I'm going to go help,” Sayaka said, before shakily getting to her feet and running towards the fallen chariot.

The blonde girl with the curly twin-tails was on her feet first, and immediately went to the youngest girl, who Madoka assumed was Nagisa. The final girl, Kimiko? She was mumbling under her breath on the floor as she rummaged through the wreckage of their chariot, pulling out swords and shields and all kinds of weapons. Sayaka was there immediately, helping her up. Once the blonde girl had checked over Nagisa, she looked up and locked eyes with Madoka. She quickly walked towards her, with a worried look on her face.

“You're the one the monster is attacking, right? You're the demigod? I'm supposed to be looking for two of them but the Oracle didn't tell me what they looked like or where they might be and this is the first demon attack we've found which means there should be demigod around and-” The girl was suddenly interrupted as a car was launched over their heads. Madoka yelped and ducked down but thankfully the car harmlessly sailed above her.

“Do not feel so relieved demigod,” said a familiar voice, “Next time I shall not miss.”

“Kimiko!” Nagisa shouted, and ran towards the car wreck. Madoka looked behind her and saw that the car had landed only a few feet away, where the chariot had been, where Sayaka had been.

“Nagi, wait-” The blonde girl called out, but her attention was quickly taken again by Hitomi, who now had another car raised above her head.

“Do not tempt fate, halfblood. It will be much easier if you simply co-operate,” she said, before launching the car in their direction at top velocity.

“Look out,” the girl shouted, as she tackled Madoka to the ground.

“Come with me,” she commanded, grabbing Madoka's wrist and tugging her up before she could respond. Madoka stumbled onto her feet and soon found herself struggling to keep up with the other girl's pace.

“Wait, Sayaka's-”

“Kimiko will keep her safe,” the girl replied bluntly. The girl zigzagged across the car park, occasionally ducking down behind a car and dragging Madoka down with her.

Finally they stopped behind a shiny red car, where the girl released Madoka's hand and let her catch her breath for a moment. The girl's head kept swivelling in different directions, her weapon firmly clasped in her hands. Her whole body seemed tense, as if she was about to dart off again at any time.

Madoka reached out and tugged on the girl's t-shirt. The girl flinched and pivoted suddenly towards her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“W-why,” Madoka stuttered between deep breaths, “Why is she attacking us?”

The girl sighed. “She's a monster, an empousa. She was sent from someone, I don't know who. But there's been a lot of them recently, trying to recruit demigods for something. There's a lot I don't know really and I'm sorry but...” The girl trailed off as she looked at Madoka's saddened face.

“She was my friend...” Madoka mumbled, feeling the sting of tears in the corner of her eyes.

The girl lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Madoka, pulling her close for a brief hug. “This may sound harsh but... That girl was never your friend. I'm so sorry, I know this must be hard but right now it's my priority to keep you and your other friend safe.”

“But where _is_ Sayaka?”

“I'm not sure, but we'll find her and then I'm going to take you somewhere safe and I'll explain all of this...” She trailed off as the sound of metal scraping against metal echoed across the car park.

The blonde tightened her hand around Madoka's arm. “We need to go, now-”

Madoka suddenly found herself falling, as the car that she was leaning against was ripped away from behind her and flipped over the top of the pair. The car landed so that Madoka's leg was trapped under the battered bonnet, with shards of broken glass caught in her hair and eyelashes.

Opposite her, Hitomi stood ablaze, a crazed grin across her face. Dread pooled in the bottom of Madoka's stomach.

Managing to avoid the crash, the girl had taken position in front of Madoka, obscuring her.“Get out of here,” she said, but Madoka was too scared to move. She looked to her leg and tried to wiggle it. An intense pain shot up her body and she winced. There was no way she was going to be able to get out of this without help. She went to tell the girl this but Hitomi's cackling drowned out her weak voice.

“Oh please, that will be useless against me!”

Madoka looked back to the blonde girl and saw that she'd drawn a small bronze dagger. “No harm in trying though. All my other weapons were in the chariot that you destroyed.”

Madoka was confused, surely that wasn't the best thing to tell your enemy? Unless... Unless the girl was trying to lure Hitomi into a false sense of security and she had some kind of back-up plan. Maybe Sayaka and the other two girls were getting ready to ambush Hitomi and everything would be fine. Well, she could hope.

“I've already killed one of you, the rest will not be hard.” Madoka tensed. It couldn't be... She could be talking about Sayaka, could she? She tried to swallow down the lump in her throat as a feeling of dread began pooling in the pit of her stomach. In front of her she saw the girl's steely stance falter for just a second, but it was soon replaced with an even more determined look.

The girl glanced back with a glare. “I told you to get out of here!” she hissed before turning back to Hitomi. “Why are you here?” she asked.

“For the girl, of course. Her friend was merely an added bonus.”

“Why do you need her?” the girl asked defiantly.

Madoka was shaking violently now, unable to keep it and her breathing under control. How could this girl be so brave even though her friends might be dead?

“They require her. They require only the strongest demigods for his cause and she has the potential to be the greatest.”

“Sounds like a load of crap to me!”

Sayaka piped up from behind and Madoka's heart leapt. Surely as she could see, Sayaka was leant over a bronze sword, using it like a crutch, but she was alive and that was all that mattered. That said, from the way Hitomi was glaring at her now, Madoka wasn't sure that she was going to stay alive for long. “I don't care why you 'need' her, you're not getting her.”

“S-sayaka!”

With a cry, Sayaka blindly swung the sword, but still managed to hit her target. Hitomi's cry was cut off as her head left her body, a look of surprise across her features as it tumbled to the ground.

As the girls watched the head roll across the tarmac, Madoka felt a strange mix of relief and guilt. Hitomi's lifeless eyes seemed to stare directly at her, chilling Madoka to the bone.

Sayaka rushed over and began heaving the car. She was soon joined by the blonde girl as Nagisa crawled underneath the bonnet and reached out for Madoka's hand. As they both emerged, Madoka noticed a thin layer of glittering gold dust settling over the car park. The young girl let go of her hand and ran over to the other one, clinging to her side. The blonde girl smiled softly and offered her own hand.

“Well, now that they're gone I guess I can introduce myself properly. I'm Mami and this is Nagisa. Don't worry, we're going to take you somewhere safe now.”

**+**

Despite the biting cold eating away at her fingers and the slight frost beginning to form along the hem of her coat, Madoka somehow managed to fall asleep. It should've made the journey easier, to be honest, if it wasn't for the nightmare.

First, there was a girl. She was standing a few feet away from Madoka, silently watching her. Madoka wanted to call out, but something inside told her to keep quiet.

With dark hair and dark eyes, everything about the girl was mysterious, including an overall dark aura surrounding her as she simply stood there staring at Madoka. Madoka then felt a different kind of chill; one that rippled through her entire body. But it was the girl's eyes in particular that caught Madoka's attention.

It was as if they were trying to be fierce and unnerving, but there was something there that struck a chord in Madoka's heart. She felt the overwhelming need to rush over and hug the girl. To tell her everything would be okay, even though she had no idea what was wrong.

Madoka took a step forward, just as the girl took a step back. Frowning, Madoka took another step and once again the girl mirrored her. Madoka broke into a walk and soon the girl followed.

“Wait!” she called out, but as she began to run, the girl began to disappear. Her entire body was being consumed by the darkness surrounding her. And just as she faded into the blackness, Madoka could swear she saw a tear fall from her cheek.

Madoka fell to the floor, struggling to draw breaths. God, why was she such a lousy runner?

_They could help you with that._

Madoka jumped, and scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could.

“Who- who's there?”

_They could give you anything you wanted. Stronger lungs wouldn't take much of their power._

“Show yourself!” she shouted, but the only light seemed to be coming from within her, illuminating only herself and nothing else. Even so, Madoka couldn't pinpoint the direction the voice was coming from, as if it was omnipresent. Actually, it was like it was coming from her own mind.

_All they'd need is a promise. A contract of sorts. A promise of your power when the time comes._

“What power? I don't have any power. I don't understand anything you're talking about. Who and where are you? I said show yourself!” Madoka's voice wobbled, even though she willed herself to stay calm. She knew this was a dream, knew she wouldn't be hurt, but the fear was real – the fear she hadn't stopped feeling since the attack this morning.

“Very well,” said a voice, an actual voice, and Madoka swivelled around to find some kind of creature in front of her. It was about the size of a cat, white with strange markings across its fur. “Are you more comfortable now?”

“I... No, not really... Who are you?” She decided to leave the _what_ are you for later.

“My name is Kyuubey, and I am here to make a proposal to you.”

“W-what kind of proposal? What did you mean by contract?”

“I am a messenger, sent by the Ancient Ones. The oldest beings known in existence. The fathers of time and sky and earth. The primordial deities who formed the world that you know, only to be defeated and locked away by their children who in turn were defeated and locked away by theirs. But now they are rising, and wish to employ whoever can offer their power to their cause.”

“And what's their cause...?” Madoka asked with hesitancy. Something told her she wasn't going to like the answer.

“Naturally, it is to destroy this mortal world, and rebuild a new,” Kyuubey said, very matter-of-factly. As if Madoka should've known already.

Madoka didn't reply.

“But do not fret, in return for your service to them, my masters will spare your lives and allow you to live in this new world.”

“I-”

“And as aforementioned, they will also grant you a wish.”

“A wish?”

“Indeed. Anything you desire, they can give you. My masters are the masters of the world. Any gift, any power, they can grant that too you. Riches, revenge, anything you could want.”

“I don't want anything.”

“Everyone wants something.”

“Not... not necessarily. I don't desire anything. I'm content with life. Well, everything seemed to change today, but that's your fault, isn't it? Hitomi... Whatever she really was. She said they needed powerful people. Powerful demigods. I don't even know what that means. But either way it doesn't change anything. I don't need you to help me, I'll make my own destiny.”

“Then you will not make a contract today?”

“I won't be making a contract ever.”

“Then you're making a grave mistake, half-blood. But nonetheless I shall return again.”

As the fox dissolved into itself, the floor gave way and Madoka fell and fell and fell....

The second she woke up, Madoka turned to Sayaka.

“Sayaka. Sayaka!” Madoka shook her friend's shoulder, gradually growing rougher and rougher until the older girl finally stirred awake. She mumbled and groaned a little

Sayaka sat up and rolled her neck, “I... I had a really weird dream.”

“Was there a white fox in it?” Madoka asked quickly, eyes lighting up.

Sayaka stared at her friend for a while, then glanced at Nagisa and Mami who were curled asleep together on the other side of the chariot.

“Yeah there was, and I really didn't like what it was saying.”

“Did you see the girl too?”

“Girl? No, I didn't. There was just the creepy fox-rabbit thing and that was all. You saw a girl?”

“Yeah... She was didn't do anything, though. She just kind of stood there looking sad. I tried to go to her but she disappeared.”

“Weird...”

“Should we tell her?” Madoka asked, nodding towards Mami.

“Who, Mami? No, probably not. Not yet. I mean, she's grieving, right?”

“Yeah... We'll tell her soon, though, right? Because I think it's important,” Madoka insisted.

Sayaka nodded, “Yeah, we will, don't worry.” She sighed heavily. “Let's just try and get some actual  
sleep for now, okay?”

“Okay,” Madoka replied and adjusted her position. She rested her head on her friend's shoulder and closed her tired eyes.

This time Madoka fell into a dreamless sleep, but she still woke the next morning with the same feeling of dread she had before.

**+**

Sayaka was claimed the moment she stepped on camp ground, or at least, that's what Mami called it when a single ray of sunlight shone down on Sayaka, illuminating her completely and leaving everyone else in shadow.

“It's a sign,” Mami explained, “Sent from the god of the sun, Apollo. It means he's your godly parent.”

“He's the one who rides the sun chariot, right?” Madoka asked, shielding her eyes from the ray as she tried to remember what she'd learnt in primary school.

“Yep. Although he represents a lot more than that. Poetry, music, medicine and prophecy to name a few. Originally, however-”

“Does this ever go away?” Sayaka interrupted with a distressed look. She hopped about the place, trying to step out of the light which seemed quite persistent to follow.

Mami laughed, “Eventually. Apollo's claims tend to last a little longer than others. He's quite flashy, you see.”

“Wonderful,” Sayaka mumbled under her breath as she continued to dodge the ray.

“What about me?” Madoka asked quietly.

“Don't worry about it too much. A lot of kids go unclaimed for the first few days. Nagisa is unclaimed. It's okay, we have a place for you to stay. Hermes is the god of wanderers and travellers, so his cabin takes in all the strays without a place yet. They're a riot, that lot. They're welcome you in no problem. Nagisa will show you, right?”

“Of course!” The little one said, with a big smile. She took Madoka's hand and gently tugged it. “It's this way. But you have to keep your stuff close because some of the older boys like to steal it to annoy you!”

Madoka laughed, “Okay, I will.”

“And take Sayaka to the Apollo cabin too, please. I need to visit Chiron at the Big House and tell him what happened.”

“Who's Chiron?” Sayaka asked.

“The camp director. I'll introduce you properly to him tomorrow. For now I need to tell him about the monster attack, and about Kimiko.” Mami looked sad for a moment. “We were never close, to be honest. Kimiko only reluctantly joined the rescue mission to avoid cleaning up after last week's capture the flag. She could be annoying but... She was still a camper and we're all family really.” Mami cleared her throat. “Still, we'll hold a funeral for her, tomorrow night most likely. I hope you two will attend.”

“Of course we will,” Madoka said, nodding.

“I'll be off then. Nagi you know what to do.” Mami smiled and bowed her head before leaving.

“Come on then,” Nagisa said, tugging on Madoka's arm, “I'll give you the whistle-stop tour!”

**+**

Madoka didn't sleep that night for a lot of reasons. For one, the Hermes cabin was overbearingly loud and stuffy. There were a lot more unclaimed kids at camp than Madoka first thought, but unfortunately it didn't make her feel any less alone.

She ended up rooming with Nagisa, who was sound asleep on the bunk above her, snoring quietly. That was probably another reason she wasn't falling asleep, but if she was able to deal with her little brother's snoring for three years she could learn to live with this.

But there was what the real problem was, maybe. Her family. Her family were expecting her at the school car park at 8pm that day. They were going to give Sayaka a lift home since her mother would still be working. Now neither of them would be turning up. Would they call the police first? Would they look for them or would they assumed they died at the fire? There was a lot of blood and carnage... It wouldn't be surprising if they were written off as lost to the flames.

Madoka felt tears prick the edges of her eyes. Before she had time to stop them, they were falling in cascades.

“Madoka-chan?” Madoka could just make out Nagisa's little head poked over the top of the bed's bannister in the low light. “Are you okay?”

Madoka rubbed the tears out of her eyes, “Yeah, I'm fine,” she said, voice wobbling. “Just a little homesick I guess.”

“I understand, I cried my first night here too. And the next,” she replied with a little laugh. “When Mami found out though, she let me stay with her in her cabin. You don't have to worry about anything. We're going to look after you really well. We can be your new family.”

Madoka didn't have the energy to object. “I'm glad. Really, I am. I just hope I'll get to see them again.”

“I'm sure you will. We can ask Chiron in the morning, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“That's okay. Good-night Madoka-chan!”

“Goodnight, Nagisa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, I never did know how to end a chapter well....
> 
> Also Nagisa is going to remain unclaimed until I can think of a suitable parent for her. Any ideas? Please let me know! I do know who Madoka's parent is, though, and it's a very big plot point. Mami, Homura and Kyouko's will be revealed soon, it's no big secret and they were both claimed ages ago. I am well fucking proud of Homura because she took ages to place whereas for Sayaka is pretty obvious she would be Apollo. 
> 
> Anyway, this is going to mimic canon in some places, and I'm gonna incorporate the anime and the spin-off manga A Different Story too, so I recommend you read that if you want to get some of the references, but it's not essential at all. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I'm on tumblr! Shotgunshoujo!


	2. Puella in Somnia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still going unbeta'd, so I'm sorry for any silly mistakes! Also sorry it took so long, I'm the slowest writer ever.
> 
> EDIT: Finally got a beta! After something like three months I finally got back in touch with the writing-love of my life, Libby, a.k.a. Burning_Nightingale whose going to help me with this. She's edited both of these chapters and hopefully will be helping plan out the rest of the story. :)

The attack at the museum had happened on a Monday. Madoka met a centaur on the following Tuesday. And now Sayaka had convinced her to make bets on what they'd see on Wednesday.

“A werewolf, maybe,” she suggested, “Or some kind of sea beast from the bottom of the ocean!”

“I don't think we're in Seattle anymore, Sayaka. I don't know if we're even by the ocean anymore.”

“Okay, maybe a lake monster then,” she said, shrugging in compromise.

“Oh, don't worry. No harmful monsters can get into Camp Half Blood,” said the centaur, who Mami had introduced to the pair as Chiron. He stood towering over the shorter girls, who were thoroughly intimidated by the man, if you could call him that, but Mami was stood smiling gently next to him which helped put their nerves at ease.

Early that morning, Mami had woken Madoka up and whisked her and Sayaka away to the a large house in the centre of the camp, aptly named the 'Big House', which Mami had told them was the centre for almost all camp operations. Inside the house, Mami led them to a large office, where a middle-aged man with greying hair and a bushy beard sat behind a large wooden desk. After greeting the man, Mami turned to the pair, smiling, and introduced them to Chiron, the camp director. As Sayaka meekly offered a hand to shake, the girls were shocked to find that the director hadn't been sitting at all, but in fact had the lower half body of a white stallion.

“Please take a seat, girls. I think some explanations are due,” he continued, motioning to a set of chairs in front of the desk. “If you would be so kind, could you please tell me what you know so far?”

“U-um, well-” Sayaka began as the two sat down, but even though she was known to the braver of the two she was just as nervous as Madoka, who remained quiet.

“They understand that they're demigods, but aren't aware exactly what that means. We got in late last night so I had them go straight to their cabins to rest after the monster attack,” Mami provided, “I haven't had a chance to explain anything, really.”

“Ah, I see. Well, we'll start from the beginning then.” Chiron leaned forward and rested his arms on his desk. “Demigods are essentially the offspring of a god and a mortal. In Camp Half-Blood, we house the children of the Olympians, the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. For example, Mami here is the daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Not all gods sire children, however. Certain goddesses have vows of purity, such as Hera, the goddess of marriage and home and wife of Zeus, and Artemis, goddess of the hunt and moon.”

“Athena is technically a virgin goddess too,” Mami added, “but she still has children. It's uh... It's kind of complicated though...”

“You may have thought that gods like these were just a thing of myth but believe me, they are alive and kicking all over America. Whilst they used to be based in Greece, they've now moved Mount Olympus here, to Manhattan.”

So we're in Manhattan, Madoka thought, shocked at the thought that they managed to travel across one of end of America to another in just one night. And yet, in a way it didn't shock her either, after everything else that had happened the past twenty-four hours.

“You're taking this very well so far.”

“Sir, I had to chop off my best friend's head and then she turned to dust. I think I've lost all the scepticism I ever had,” Sayaka said, laughing nervously.

Chiron laughed with her, “Ah yes, well, that was certainly one way to be introduce to this world, that's for sure. We don't usually do things that way. You see, demigods are as powerful as they are susceptible to danger. Their scent is attractive to monsters, ones such as the empousa who attacked you at the museum, and therefore they must be trained to defend themselves against these monsters. This is what we at Camp Half-Blood provide. A safe place for demigods to train in warfare and hone their special skills.”

“What do you mean by special skills?” Madoka asked, finally speaking for the first time.

“Well,” Mami began, “There are certain things that all demigods can do. We can read Greek, we're hard-wired to be better fighters, but there are also things that we do which are specific to who our parent is. Like, I'm quite good at battle planning and strategy. Children of Apollo tend to excel in archery and medicine. It's these kind of skills that can sometimes help us determine who an Unclaimed's parent is.”

“That's what I am, right?”

“Yes, but don't worry, you'll get Claimed soon,” Mami insisted.

“Right now we just want to get you two settled into camp. In the meantime, I'll find a way to contact your parents and let them know you're both safe. I'll arrange away you can speak to them yourselves as well.”

“For now I'll take you on a proper tour. Maybe try you guys out at one of the training huts and try a bit of archery? See if you have any of that natural Apollo talent, Sayaka!” Mami laughed. “And we can go down to the lake later on. No monsters, I swear!”

Madoka gave a small smile and nodded. Mami stood up, and the other girls followed her. As they said their goodbyes and exited the house, Madoka felt somewhat refreshed. Things were changing, but somehow she knew that they weren't going to change for the worse. She just knew it.

**+**

_Fwoooosh!_

An arrow soared seamlessly though the air, striking its target near perfect in the centre. Madoka lowered her bow, a broad smile stretched across her face. From the side, Sayaka and Mami watched with awe.

“What?!” Sayaka exclaimed, “That was almost perfect! Not fair!”

“Beginner's luck?” offered Madoka.

“I don't get it, Mami said kids of Apollo were supposed to be good archers. How come she's so great at this and I suck?”

“Not everyone is perfect at everything, Sayaka,” Mami said, “You might have talents in other areas, like music or medicine or poetry-”

“Oh, I don't think it's that,” Madoka interrupted, stifling a giggle, “We did poetry in sixth grade and Sayaka's was so horrible the teacher didn't want to give her a grade for it!”

“Madoka!” Sayaka shouted, tugging at one of her friend's pigtails. Madoka yelped but kept on laughing. “Haikus aren't going to help fight monsters and demons!”

“Mami!”

All three girls looked up to see a boy who seemed around Mami's age running towards them. His right hand was wrapped in clean, well-wrapped bandages running all the way up to his elbow. Madoka could see the faint beginnings of scarring coming from underneath the bandages. The boy stopped in front of Mami, showing no signs of being out of breath. It wasn't very surprising; it seemed everyone at the camp was fit and able from all the battle training.

Mami smiled, “Finally out of the medic bay, Kyou?”

“Eh, not for long. I still have to go back tonight and these changed,” he said, waving his arm. “But when I was _finally_ told about the new campers I had to come over and welcome them. After all, apparently I have a new half-sister?”

Mami laughed and put her hand on Sayaka's shoulder, “You sure do. Sayaka, this is Kyousuke, the head camper of the Apollo cabin.”

“I'm sorry I didn't get to see you last night. I've been in medicine bay the past few days. A hell-hound chewed up my arm pretty bad on my last quest. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you.” The boy held out his good hand to shake and gave a broad smile.

Sayaka nodded shyly, and shook his hand. “S-same.”

“Practising archery, huh? Is that your arrow?” he asked, nodding to Madoka's.

“Um, no, unfortunately...” Sayaka replied, blushing slightly. “That's Madoka's.”

“Ah, well. It's not for everyone. I suck at it too, to be honest. But you know I'm one heck of a violinist, or well, I used to be.”

Mami furrowed her brow, “I thought Misaki said you'd be able to-”

“Yeah, she did, but... I don't know,” he said, wiggling his bandaged fingers. “It's going to be a long time before I get the same mobility I used to and... We'll see, I guess. But for now, how about I take you along to the medic bay with me and I can show you around there? I can introduce you to some of the nurses and you might find you have a bit of affinity for that instead? You don't mind if I steal her away, do you?”

“Not at all! Madoka and I can clean up and then I'll take her to the nymph glade. You could join us there later, perhaps?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The group exchanged their goodbyes, and Sayaka followed after Kyousuke as Madoka collected her arrows from the target.

Once the pair had left, Mami turned to Madoka.

“We'll cut through the forest and I can show you where we play some of the camp games, sound good?”

Madoka nodded and, once they'd locked up the archery shed, the pair made their way into the forest.

**+**

Everything in the camp was so green, Madoka noticed as she walked behind Mami down a forest path, unlike the city which she used to live in, which was so dull, grey and industrial. Everything was sleek and modern there but here there was a nice rural atmosphere that felt cosy and homely. Everyone they passed said hello or gave a friendly wave. Mami seemed to know everyone's name and who they were and what they did. Madoka had only been here a short time but she still felt a strong sense of community coming from the camp, like she could really fit in here, even if she didn't know how she belonged quite just yet.

“So, um ... About being an Unclaimed. How long is that going to last for?” she finally asked, after thinking about how to bring it up for the past half an hour.

Mami sighed, like she knew this question was coming. “I'm afraid I don't know. Some children are claimed before they come to camp, some as soon as they step on camp grounds and some... Well, Nagi's been Unclaimed for two years now. But it's not all bad, I promise.”

“Why are so many kids Unclaimed?”

“They just are, I guess. I don't know, sometimes the Gods are too busy to claim us. I mean, they are gods after all.”

“Apollo claimed Sayaka as soon as she stepped foot in the camp, though.”

“Well, there are some Gods that are better than some. Most gods don't bother until the kids are in their teens. A lot of the minor gods don't bother at all. Sayaka and the others are just lucky, I guess. You'll know when you've been claimed, trust me. Some kids get floating symbols above their heads that don't leave for hours. I had an olive tree spring up in my garden as a gift from my mum when she claimed me. Aphrodite kids get their own personal makeovers once their mum gets her hands on them.” Mami laughed, slowing to a stop when she saw that Madoka was frowning. “Are you okay?”

“Well you just told me my parents aren't my real parents, but then I don't even know who my real parents are either so I mean, it's all a bit much to take in. It's easier now, I think. Now that you've explained things. Last night I couldn't really sleep thinking about what happened yesterday.”

“That wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to find you, calmly explain what was going on. Hopefully with your parents with you for support but... A lot of things have been happening lately, as I'm sure you might have guessed by now. There are a lot of rumours going around, but basically the gist of is that someone's trying to recruit demigods for some kind of purpose we haven't determined yet.”

Madoka thought back to her dream, to the white fox offering her anything she could possibly think of and what it wanted in return. “I think I might know what you're talking about.”

“You had the dream, didn't you?”

Madoka nodded, “There was a fox. He told me that something was rising and he needed my help.”

“And to do that he would offer to grant you any wish you desired, right?”

“Yeah, that's right.”

“A lot of campers have had the same dream. Chiron's been able to pass it off as some kind of viral prank from the Hypnos cabin but...” Mami trailed off, glancing around the area for any passing people.

When she spoke again her voice was hushed. “Look, I probably shouldn't tell you this but he's worried. Like, really worried. A while ago he called all the cabin heads together to a big meeting where he told us that we have to keep our campers from making any kind of deal with the fox. I've never seen him so scared, to be honest. He hides it well, but I've been here a very long time now. I think something big is coming. Something big and very dangerous. The old head of the Ares cabin... She's gone now but she said that maybe we should just join him, you know? Save ourselves and get a free wish with it. She's a daughter of a war god, you see, and she always preferred to be on the winner's side.” Mami chuckled softly.

“It might seem like the easy way out,” she continued, “A way to escape whatever kind of destruction is about to come, but you can't do that, okay? The more demigods that join his side, the more powerful his masters become and then what are we possibly going to do when they finally attack? They're not going to accept everyone in their “contract”. Eventually they're going to have enough recruits and then they'll attack. We can't stand aside just because our own skins will be saved, can we?”

Madoka shook her head dumbly. The serious tone in Mami's voice was unnerving. In fact, the serious tone of everything in the past twenty-four seemed so out of place for Madoka's life that she honestly didn't know what to make of any of it. Needless to say, she never really had to worry about the world's impending destruction before.

“Promise me you won't make the deal, Madoka. I can promise you that no matter what you wish for it won't make up for what you're going to lose in the process.”

“I-I promise,” Madoka replied, and she meant it.

“Good. Did he say anything else in the dream? It's really important you tell me, Madoka.”

An image of the dark-haired girl flashed across Madoka's mind, but she shook her head. “No, that was all,” she lied, “Sayaka woke me up before it could go on.”

“Okay. Well, now that that's out of the way,” she said perking up a little, “Let's get back to the tour! I'll take you to the Aphrodite cabin next, and let me warn you right now - been there, done that - you do not want to get involved with one of them!”

**+**

As the sun began to set over the lake of Camp Half-Blood, Madoka and Mami, reunited with Sayaka and Kyosuke, emerged from the forest laughing as the older two were engrossed in a story about one of their quests together.

“But the thing is, none of us even realised it was a siren, and it would've been okay if you know, Mami was _straight_ , but-...”

“Hey, come on, regardless of that, we were all pretty screwed. But thank the gods for Nagisa, honestly. She comes back with that cat she'd been chasing but suddenly it's turned into a sphinx and she comes riding in on its back, swoops down and grabs the cornucopia and then breaks a hole in the ceiling-”

“Hey Mami,” Madoka asked, “What's going on over there?”

Mami stopped, and looked to where Madoka was now pointing. Near the entrance of the camp a crowd was beginning to gather. A couple of older cabin counsellors were trying to fight their way through, as kids from every cabin were crowding around.

“I have no idea... Hey, you!” Mami shouted across to a girl nearby. “Do you know what's happening?”

“There's a new demigod arrived. She just turned up out of nowhere outside the borders and after a check-over they let her in,” came the excited reply, before the girl jogged off to join the crowd.

“Oh,” Mami said, “I wasn't aware there was another extraction mission going on...”

“Well, you've been busy with us so,” Sayaka mentioned.

“I'm going to go look. Kyousuke, you should come too.”

It was a pretty feeble attempt by the group, to say the least, when they try to make their way through the crowd and only Madoka managed to get very far thanks to being so small. After a lot of jostling around, Madoka finally caught a sight of the mystery girl.

It girl she'd never met before, not in person at least. But there was a familiar air about her. She knew this girl somehow, even if she couldn't put a name on that feeling. Just as Madoka was about to look away, the mystery girl looked up and caught Madoka's eyes with hers. At once Madoka felt like a rabbit caught in headlights. For a while she couldn't break the eye contact, only breaking when another camper pushed passed her to get a better look themselves. Madoka's eyes fell to the floor, and when she looked back at the girl she focused on the people around her instead, still feeling the stare she was receiving from her peripheral vision.

A counsellor broke forward, brushing down her skirt, and smiled and asked her name.

The girl spoke quietly but with confidence, “Hello. My name is Homura Akemi and I am a daughter of Aphrodite.”

Soon she was bombarded with questions from every direction. “Where are you from? Who brought you here? I thought the extraction team hadn't left yet?”

“I came from DC, but my family originated from Japan. I travelled here by myself, evidently before your extraction team was dispatched.”

“How did you even find us? How did you know the camp existed?”

“My mother found me when I was nine and told me to find Camp Half-Blood. She gave me an enchanted map and this shield to help me.” The shield at the girl's wrist was circular and black in colour, with a design etched in that looked like gears in a clock.

“Oh my god, is that Stygian Iron? Doesn't that mean it was crafted in the Underworld?”

“Indeed.”

All of her answers sounded rehearsed and monotonous. What was most unnerving about her though was that throughout her rigorous questioning she was never took her eyes off Madoka.

Soon the questions turned more gossipy, along the lines of 'who does your hair?' and 'can you speak French too?’

At that point Mami turned around to face the girls. “I'm going to go talk to Chiron, find out why this girl has appeared before we found her.” A group of Aphrodite girls had Homura by the wrist, pulling her along towards the Big House and gossiping along the way. Every now and then she glanced back, meeting Madoka's eyes every time.

“Isn't that a good thing, though?” asked Sayaka. “Saves a trip. Plus considering how well our one went...”

“I suppose...” Mami said, frowning. “But it's still unexpected and I want to know more about the whole thing.”

Kyousuke laughed. “As expected from a daughter of Athena. Don't you need to be preparing for Kimiko's funeral, though?”

“I delegated that to my deputy for now. I'll definitely be there at the ceremony though, don't worry. Do you think you can you take Madoka back to her cabin before going to yours?”

“Yeah, sure. We'll see you later then I guess.”

Mami nodded. “Yeah, I'll be there for dinner. See you then!” She smiled and ran off in the direction of the Big House.

On their way to the food hall, Sayaka tugged on Madoka's sleeve.

“Hey Madoka, back then did you notice something a little... off about that new girl?”

“What do you mean?” Madoka asked innocently.

“Didn't you notice? She didn't stop staring at you!”

“Did she? I wasn't really paying attention, I guess...”

“Wow, Madoka, you sure are dense sometimes!”

“It's okay, I'm sure she wasn't doing anything threatening.”

But even saying that, Madoka wasn't so sure. When their eyes had met, Madoka had felt a chill through her body. She couldn't identify anything in the girl's eyes... and that scared her.

And as she and Sayaka made their way to the food hall, there was something she was now certain of. The girl that arrived at camp today was definitely the girl from her dream. She hadn't seen her face properly in the dream, but the same feeling of sadness washed over her whenever she thought of the new camper. She could match it perfectly to the same feeling she felt in the dream, where she'd been chasing after the girl so desperately out of her reach. To arrive the day after Madoka... That couldn't be a coincidence.

She needed to speak with that girl. To find out exactly what's going on. She hadn't realised then that she'd be getting that wish sooner than she expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was absolutely determined to have this up today. Like the last chapter it's been sitting in my documents for ages half-finished. 
> 
> Okay so there are going to be a few PMMM canon parallells in this, but there's also going to be a lot of difference, like role reversals and messing around with wishes. So like, the SayaKyouHito thing is messed around with a bit because a) Hitomi is dead and b) Sayaka and Kyousuke are related now but I'll still incorporate that somewhwere. And ofc in the anime Mami encouraged Madoka and Sayaka to make a wish but in this people know from the get go that it's not going to end up ok. Basically I'm going to be jumping about all over the place with parallells and divergences and stuff so like... bare with me. 
> 
> The next chapter might take a little longer bc in my plan I kind of have a gap at this point where I don't really know what to do next or how to transition to the next bit since I have key events and the ending planned but I need to work on the character/relationship development that'll happen in the meantime. It's a shame bc I used to have someone work these things out with me but we seemed to have fallen out of contact. Oh well :'D I'll work through it!!


	3. Umbra Nigra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for whole long this took - oops. Exams and mental health and other stuff got in the way but here it is finally. You might notice it's shorter than the other two but I couldn't meet my usual word count without waffling or going into stuff that's meant for chapter 4 so... (Also going unbeta'd again for a short while because Libby is currently missing but I'm dying to get this out now.)
> 
> Anyway, in this chapter are some cameos from Oriko Magica, a spin-off manga from the main series, but if you aren't familiar with them no need to worry because they're only feature in one or two chapters. A look over their wiki pages will do fine.
> 
> So, thank you for all the comments and kudos! Please enjoy!

 

Dinner was eventful, if not for the fact it took Madoka nearly the whole of the hour trying to figure out how you could just say what you wanted and it appeared. Not that she complained, though – the lobster she had was absolutely delicious.

She sat shoulder-to-shoulder on an over-crowded table between Nagisa and another camper whose name she couldn't remember. She couldn't blame herself, though, after all Nagisa had introduced her to so many different campers it was hard to keep track of who was who. She was pretty sure the one in front of her was Kirika, and the blonde one across from Nagisa was Oriko but she might have had them mixed up. The Hermes cabin was apparently the biggest in the entire camp, and Madoka wasn't having a hard time believing it.

“Why aren't there any campers on those tables over there?” She asked, nodding her head in the direction of the tables in question.

Nagisa looked up, and answered with a mouthful of food, “Those are honorary tables. Didn't Mami tell you that some gods and goddesses don't have children?”

“She did mention how she technically born from someone's brain, yes.”

The younger girl giggled, almost choking on her food. Once she recovered she continued, “Okay, well, basically even though some of the gods don't have children we still have cabins and tables and such to honour them. At the end of our meals we also scrape off some of our food into the fire over there in honour of our parents. It's usually the Unclaimed who volunteer to do it for the other gods.”

“It's always good to be in the god's good books,” said the girl in front of Nagisa, Oriko. She was sure it was Oriko. She was quite a neat girl and rather charismatic. A stark difference to her friend next to her who seemed rather brash and rough around the edges.

“Yeah,” Nagisa agreed, “If you're not they can do all kinds of horrible things to you.”

Madoka looked back and forth between the two with a worried look, “Like what?”

“Like... Turning you into an animal! Or a plant! Or put curses on you, like what they did to Mr. D! Except he's also a God but...”

“Who's Mr.D?”

“You haven't met him yet? He's one of the head counsellors,” Nagisa said, looking surprised.

Madoka's eyes widened, “We have a god as one of our counsellors?”

“Yeah, like _that'_ s the most important thing,” Kirika, the girl in front of Madoka interrupted, rolling her eyes. “The clue is in the name really. D stands for Dionysus, as in the the god of wine? Also the most notorious party-goer on Mt. Olympus, or so the rumours say. I don't think he can do much of that _here_ though. He's right over there,” Kirika pointed, “on Chiron's left.”

Madoka leaned back in her seat, just about spotting a rather chubby man with black curly hair and a red face. Whilst Chiron was laughing, Mr. D wore a scowl as he finished a can of coke and threw it away. There looked like there was quite a pile growing in the corner.

“Wait... _He's_ a god?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yep, that's Mr. D. He's real grumpy, and hates kids. He's here because Zeus punished him for some reason or another, I don't know. Either way, you can tell he doesn't want to be here and if you get on his bad side chances are you're gonna be on clean-up duty for the rest of your life here.”

“Yeah, she can say that from experience!” shouted someone behind her, and Kirika swivelled around to shout back.

Madoka looked at Nagisa, “But is it really that bad to be Unclaimed? You still have all the same powers, right?”

“Yes?! Of course it's bad!” Kirika answered before Nagisa could and was back facing Madoka. This time she was frowning. “You don't get it because you've only been here a couple of days but it _sucks_ not knowing who your mother is. I've been here for years and yet I haven't gotten a single hint as to who she is. Do you have any idea how that feels? That's _daily_ rejection. It's not fair at all. And then in comes that friend of yours and she just get claims on the spot.”

Madoka suddenly felt very guilty. “I'm sure you'll be-”

Kirika's snort cut her off. “I doubt it.”

The brunette went quiet, occupied in thought as she pushed around her food. Madoka decided it was probably best not to press the subject. After a couple of minutes, Kirika stood up, walked over to the fire and threw her leftovers into the fire. She didn't come back to the table again that night.

Oriko cleared her throat. “I'm sorry for her behaviour. She's a little rash sometimes. I'll go make sure she's okay,” she said, before politely excusing herself from the table.

Once she was gone, Madoka mumbled, “I didn't mean to upset anyone.”

“Some people get touchy over this stuff.”

“Don't you get upset?”

“I used too... But now I don't mind as much,” Nagisa replied with a non-committal shrug.

Madoka returned to her food but now she didn't really feel like eating.

“Excuse me, Madoka was it?”

Madoka looked up and followed the voice behind her, surprised to find the dark-haired girl from the morning standing close by. She was smiling politely, but still had a solemn look in her eyes, like she was about to bear grave news but was told to do it nicely.

“Oh, it was Homura, right?” she asked, although she didn't need too. She didn't think she was going to forget that name in a hurry. In all the circumstances she was surprised that it was Homura who approached Madoka first. Could that dream have worked both ways?

Homura nodded, “I'm very sorry to interrupt your meal, but may I have a word with you outside?”

“Um, sure you can. I was finished anyway,” Madoka replied, pushing her leftovers towards Nagisa who'd been eyeing them up for the past five minutes. She stood up, excused herself from the rest of the table and followed after Homura who was already half way out of the hall, like she just assumed Madoka would follow.

**+**

As they stepped outside of the dining hall, Homura didn't waste time in any small-talk.

“I doubt I am the first person to warn your of these wishes,” she began.

“No, you're not,” Madoka replied, wondering where Homura was going to go with this conversation.

“And I probably won't be the last either. But the peculiar thing about warnings is that most them go unheard. Therefore, I wish to make myself extremely clear: If you value your family, your friends, and everything you hold dear to you, you will not make a wish with the messenger.”

 _I wasn't going to_ , Madoka thought, but instead of saying that she asked, “Did you?”

There was a pause. Homura wore no expression on her face.

“No, I have not,” she replied, finally.

“Are you lying?”

“No, I am not,” Homura answered, much more quickly than she did before. Still, Madoka couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not.

“I don't really know what I'm supposed to make of you.”

“It doesn't matter what you think of me, as long as you heed my warning. You can not make a wish.”

“Alright, I _get it_! I'm not going to. I didn't like that fox thing anyway. Mami warned me already and half the camp has too.”

“Mami Tomoe? Huh. That's rather unexpected.” For a moment, Homura's expression faltered, and she turned to the side slightly lost in thought.

“Yes, Mami,” Madoka repeated, “Why is that unexpected?”

Homura looked up. “It's just...” She hesitated, as if she needed to choose her words carefully. “I thought she seemed weaker than that.”

“What? I might have only known her for a few days, but she's certainly not weak-”

“Madoka?”

Both girl's heads swivelled in the direction of the voice. Sayaka stood in the doorway of the dining hall looking for her friend.

“I should go now,” Madoka said, feeling very glad that Sayaka had interrupted.

“Yes. I think that's a good idea. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Madoka.” Homura bowed her head politely and then retreated to the dining hall before Madoka could reply. Sayaka walked past her on her way to Madoka, there eyes meeting briefly but they were too far away for Madoka to decipher their looks.

“What was going on there?” Sayaka asked once she reached her friend.

Madoka shrugged, “Oh, nothing, she just wanted to introduce herself properly is all.”

“Okay... Well, Kyousuke said there's a campfire tonight so we should head over there, okay?”

Madoka nodded and followed after Sayaka. She was still confused after her conversation with Homura, but she would have to think about it tomorrow.

**+**

A few days later, two new demigods arrived at the camp. Mami was their immediately, alongside the head of the Hermes cabin to meet them. As soon as they stepped over the camp's threshold, a fiery red beacon in the shape of a hammer hovered over one of the pair – a claim from Hephaestus, according to Nagisa. Several hours later, the second halfblood found a trail of flowers following his every footstep – a blessing from the goddess Demeter. Both demigods claimed in less than a day.

“It's not fair...” Kirika said later that night, pushing her food around her plate with a fork. “It's just not fair...”

Once again, Madoka struggled for words. “Maybe they-”

“No!” Kirika screamed, hurling her plate across the table. The entire Hermes table had gone eerily quiet, and many of the surrounding tables too. For a moment it was like everyone was focused on Kirika.

“I don't care what you have to say! There's no reason why they haven't claimed us yet. They obviously just don't care about us and it's just not _fair_.”

No one replied, even Oriko, who seemed to always know what Kirika needed to hear to calm her down, was at a loss for words.

Kirika stood up and left without saying a word. This was the first time, Madoka noticed, that she'd seen Kirika leave dinner without making an offering to the gods.

“Are you going to after her?” Madoka asked after a few minutes. The table had returned to its usual chatter, albeit a little more hushed than it had been before.

“No, not tonight,” Oriko replied, looking solemn, “I don't think... Now isn't the time.”

Madoka nodded rather dumbly and went back to her food, but somehow now she couldn't bear to stomach it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So expect more awkward MadoHomu interactions next chapter with hopefully a bit more plot and maybe some action courtesy of my dear Kyoko? We'll see how it goes. I have a plan of what's happening next so hopefully the next chapter will come out quicker. That said, I'm working on a Madoka/Alice in Wonderland crossover too so you might see that before you see this. 
> 
> Once again thank you very much for all your feedback!


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